


No one's taking my heart away

by Ex-Genesis (orphan_account)



Category: Disney RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying, Frottage, Incest, M/M, Pre-Slash, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-02
Updated: 2010-07-02
Packaged: 2017-11-11 03:07:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/473829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Ex-Genesis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joe kind of screwed himself over, so Nick has to rescue him from a bully.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No one's taking my heart away

At home, his family still looks at him like he's the kid he was when he was thirteen, short for his age and scrawny with just a hint of muscles. It was back in middle school when Nick would run with Joe and borrow his weights, just so that he could keep up in phys. ed.. They all knew he had ambition, but they never expected him to morph into this boy-man who plays baseball, plays tennis, does soccer, and golfs (and most people don't take golf for what it is, which is a really serious sport that Nick gets frustrated about when people mock without ever having played it), at least when they're not running into each other. When he reached tenth grade, he had to drop a few sports. It was suggested by his counselors, multiple because he'd come straight from eighth grade. They wanted to make certain he could handle the coursework, so it was one sport per season, not that the coaches would have let him be on more than one anyway. Still, he was upset when he had to pick baseball and soccer, only.

Over that summer he had worked so hard, and while he changed, grew, his family still couldn't see passed the old pictures hanging on their staircase wall. He was Nick, Nicholas to Joe, their boy who was growing into a fine young man, but wouldn't grow up in their eyes for years to come. It didn't matter his demeanor. When he got too serious about things, it was pouting, not what everyone else at school saw it as - maturity. Joe always seemed to know where the balance was, and he was usually the only one who could break Nick from a bad mood, and it usually required some physical pain, letting Nick pelt balls at him until his heart rate was too high and his endorphins had kicked in, and Nick felt like he could breathe again without biting out harsh remarks.

The first semester isn't as bad as Nick would think. Not only did his rigorous workouts over the summer help him build up on everything he'd started when he finished elementary school, but time had filled him out too. He's never thought of himself as particularly good looking but he knows he isn't ugly, but he still blushes when a girl starts to flirt with him. Nick stammers and backs up every time a pretty one asks to touch his curls though; he doesn't understand their fascination, and in time he decides to cut them back. Girls make less of a deal about his hair when he has his curls trimmed, but now they just comment saying they really think he should grow them out again. It's frustrating, and he doesn't blush like he did when he first started at the school.

Nick's a pretty funny guy sometimes. His humor is dry, but he has really good timing, and he's willing to be just cheesy enough that people can appreciate it. It's a talent he picked up from Joe over the years, learned by osmosis because Joe is just there and is funny, insane, a lot of the time. Nick doesn't think he knows a funnier guy. That's why it surprises him when he starts to get the idea that Joe's not such a popular guy. He asks around a little, when he sees girls gossiping already. He thinks he's figured out Joe's first mistake when he finds out that last year, the girl he'd bring home only now and again, Taylor, was one of the most popular girls in school. She was in theater, and choir, and while in some situations she had no ground to stand on, she held her place with a lot of people. Born liars, dramatists, and high school girls who believed every weird she said about his brother. Once the girls stopped liking him, a lot of the guys did too, afraid to become bad guys like Joe just because they hung out with him. After that it must have just been a mixture of things, stupid mistakes like tripping down the stairs during one of the busiest times of the day, knocking others down, aggravating them and generally humiliating himself.

So while Nick's got girls asking him out, guys throwing their arms over his shoulders and calling him things like a mans' man before punching him in the shoulder and throwing a baseball cap at him, Joe, he finds, spends a lot of his free time reading in the library, and Nick always wants to stay with him, remind him he's always got a friend, but high school politics and other things, like this separate life he's developed keep him out of the library most days.

Soccer season starts and everyone who cares finds out that he's really good. Those Boys and Girls Club soccer teams he grew up on really gave him a firm basis that he never let go of, so he's one of the top players on the team, he becomes 'the guy' to another thirty or so people, and at least ten more girls than he started out with, not to mention all of the new kids in his classes when second semester starts. By the time baseball season rolls around, Nick has what Joe refers to as a 'fan base' when he's bragging about Nick at the dinner table. Mom and dad usually laugh it off as Nick elbows Joe gently in the stomach and Frank rolls his eyes. While Nicks' kid brother practically worships him, he doesn't seem to believe that anyone outside of the family would. It's always that. His family can't see it, only often times, he'll catch Joe looking at him this certain way, and he'll wonder if all of Joe's teasing is really just that, isn't like the patronizing remarks or the 'humbling' remarks as his preacher father calls them, that his parents, Frankie, and older brother Kevin (when he calls in from University) give him. He thinks that maybe Joe doesn't think he's such a kid, and that maybe, maybe he's even kind of proud of him.

Nick doesn't tell Joe, but when he's toward the end of his routine every morning, or in the school workout room, he'll think about that look Joe gives him to push him to do just ten more.

It's at the beginning of the season and Nick is part way through practice, just passed the warm-ups, on a five-minute break when he gets a text.

Mitch 3:30  
Hey nick, I think ur bro is getting beat up by gerry outside 711

Looking at it, he tries to remember where Joe and Frankie would be and checks the time. Frankie has to be at home with mom and he wouldn't be around a 711 anyway when mom picks him up from school. When Nick doesn't have practice, he and Joe walk home together and they always pick up slurpies. Nick's pretty sure he told Joe he had practice today, but his heart starts pumping faster when he thinks that maybe Joe had been waiting for him in their usual spot and finally realized Nick wasn't coming and started walking home on his own. His mind starts to get really off track for a moment, wondering what Joe would have done to Gerry of all people to warrant an ass-kicking but he realizes he's wasting time and closes his phone as he runs over to his coach and tells him he's got a family emergency. He leaves all of his stuff behind and sprints off the field, running until he's down the few blocks to the first corner and follows the sidewalk to the next where there's a mound of dirt off to the side of the 711, work of lazy construction workers a long time ago.

Gerry has his back to Nick and has Joe pressed up against the wall, fist up in the air. He notices Joes' glasses on the ground but thinks considering how close Gerrys' fist is to his face, he probably doesn't need them at the moment. His nostrils are flaring and his chest is heaving as it pushes and pulls air out and into his lungs. His chest burns but before Gerry can move much more, he forces out a harsh, determined, "Hey! Who do you think you are being such a dick to him? Leave him alone!" Gerry drops his fist back half an inch as he turns to glare at Nick, and then a small smirk settles over his face.

"Nick, surprising. Your brother forgot he owed me money, that's all - just taking care of business." He sounds smug, but like he has no right to be all at the same time, his voice containing two tones because he hasn't finished puberty yet or something. Nick clenches his own fist at his side and steps closer.

"Fine," he bites out, "I have money in my wallet back at the school. Come with me and get it now if you want, or I'll give it to you tomorrow." If things can be handled easy, painless, Nick's prepared to give up his wallets' worth and he keeps a hundred in it at all times just in case. He stops mid-flinch when Gerry moves to throw his fist into Joes' face but stops and starts laughing, spit flying out of his mouth as he does so, when Joe does flinch. Nick doesn't blame him; the guy has meat on him.

"No, honestly, I think I'd rather hit this kid. He's kind of a douche. I can tell - a wannabe or some shit, huh?" The questioning tone is directed at Joe after he lifts his chin to point at a guitar case, open on the ground, empty, but if Nick can see properly in his glance, it's a really nice one. A really nice one. He wonders just how much Joe really borrowed, and how long Gerry even gave him before he decided to be a dick. Nick doesn't think it could be more than a hundred, but it could be close. But he doubts if Joe even had a chance to think about earning the money to pay him back. Nick's heart sort of swells at it all, but he blinks it away and focuses on Gerry and his stupid grin.

"If you hit him, I'm going to have to kick your ass. Let my brother go, Gerry," Nick says, stepping closer, with sure steps to let the bully know he's not joking around. Nick has biceps now, and he could sure as hell cause some pain if he wanted, plus he's faster, not nearly as bulky. Gerry honestly wouldn't have much of a chance. Nick doesn't want to hurt him, but if he even finds a bruise on Joe, he thinks he might change his mind real fast.

There are thoughts rolling around in Gerry's head. Nick can tell and he loves the way Gerry's grin slides from his face like someone greased it up. Blinking a few times, Gerry slowly pulls back from Joe, but Joe remains as close to the wall as possible, afraid if he makes any sudden moves, he'll get a broken nose. "Fine," Gerry finally says, like he's doing Nick a favor (which he is, in a way, because Nick doesn't really need sore knuckles when he's meant to be pitching a game in two days. "Eighty-nine bucks, Jonas. Tommorrow morning, and none of this bullshit check stuff. Cash. And another fifty for not breaking your brothers' face." Nick scowls, rolls his eyes, but waves Gerry off in agreement. He'll figure out where he's going to pull the rest of the money from later. The answer is pretty simple though, his college fund. Oh well, he's pulling for a full-ride anyway...

"Moron..." Nick mutters, watching Gerry walk around the corner, as he closes in and puts his hands on both of his older brothers' shoulders and then turns concerned eyes on him, "You okay, Joe? I ran here as soon as Mitch sent me the text but... He didn't hurt you, right?" Joe shakes his head and the instant he does, Nick pulls him against his chest, finally letting himself breathe heavy and catch up from his run earlier. His hand pets at Joes' hair a little, while the other holds securely to Joes' back because for some reason he feels like he needs to steady Joe even when he's probably in worse shape at the moment, himself.

"Look Joe, I'm really sorry. I should have been spending time with you, inviting you to come hang out with me. That's going to change." Nick's talking like this is some spoken concern Joe voiced, but he's never said anything to Nick before, knowing his little brother deserved his space, deserved the friends that he had and all of the people who admired him.

"Nick, I don't think it would have made any difference," he tries to assure him, as Nick pulls Joe's arm up and sets it over his shoulders so that Nick can get an arm around his waist, and then he picks up the glasses and then the guitar case by the handle and uses his eyes to direct Joe into helping him get it closed. Joe rolls his eyes, but he thinks it's pretty sweet Nick thinks it's dangerous to let Joe go.

Nick starts dusting the case off, admiring it as they start walking and as he responds seriously, "Even if that's true, I've wanted to be with you and I should have just done it instead of getting caught up in other people. Besides, I think it would have helped. If nothing else, they would have been able to see how awesome I think you are, and then maybe they would have seen it too instead of being such jerks."

Eyebrows raising, he can't help the surprise in his voice when he asks, "You think I'm awesome Nicky?"

"Joe, of course I do. You're..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Aw come on Nick." Joe whines, putting on sad face for Nick, making his brother roll his eyes at him this time. "I just almost got my face pounded in. Please just let me hear it?"

"Fine... You're just really - you know," Nick says, eyelashes brushing against his cheek as he mumbles, "Special." They don't live too far from school, and the 711 is a halfway mark so Joe isn't that surprised to see that they're outside the house when he makes Nick stop walking. He has to study Nick for a second, and with his head still swimming about the events of the day, Joe needs Nick to be still for a second. He tilts his head to the side and Nick blushes under his gaze; Joe finds that he really likes that, and that his heart seems to as well, when it starts sending the cells through his blood stream a little more rapidly. Joe plans on saying something, and he's half way to lifting his palm to Nicks' cheek when his little brother bites his lip and then asks, lifting his eyes for just a second, "Was this for me, Joe?" He tilts the case up between them for a moment. Joe nods, but Nick can't see that.

"Yeah. Yes. I wanted to get you something special because I know your first game is in two days - you guys celebrate after, right? - and you haven't really taken your guitar anywhere with you for a while because you don't have a case for it. You really liked playing at peoples' parties before it got wrecked - before I wrecked it, so..."

"Yeah, that's really great Joe, thanks," Nick says, and he means it with his whole heart. It sounds rehearsed but it's just because he doesn't know what to say when he feels full like this. When he's got the urge to kiss Joes' cheek a few times and tell him how amazing he is. Nick thinks that'd be some kind of mistake so he just says what he thinks other people would say at that moment. When he looks up into Joe's eyes though, his own kind of wondering, Joe sees the sincerity in it.

"I guess I ruined it though," Joe says, sounding disappointed, but slightly pleased, maybe because he knows if he hadn't fucked everything up, Nick would have really liked it. Nick smiles fondly and shakes his head no, adamant about it. "But I ended up making us owe more than before!"

"Joseph. It's the thought that counts. Remember when I got you that telescope for your birthday?" Nick asks, happiness obvious under his skin.

"You mean the paper towel roll?" Joe asks, a little smile in the corner of his lips when he remembers what Nick's talking about. Nick nods, as if to say, 'Exactly.' "You were five," Joe reminds him. "I was lucky I got anything." Sighing, he moves to pull the scuffed up case from Nicks' hands but Nick won't let go, and Joe sees the determination set in them once more. He waits because it's the only thing he can do, and huffs a breath of air from his mouth because sometimes Nicks' lessons are really long-winded. "Nick," Joe says, a bit of a whine in his voice again. "I'll just take it back and get what I can for it, and take some of my comics to the pawn shop - I'll get the money to pay Gerry back."

"Joe," Nick interrupts.

"I mean, it was my fault that this whole thing happened. I'm such an idiot. I should have earned the money on my own first, and so what if it wasn't in time for your first game." Nick can tell by his tone that's he's just set himself up to ramble for a few minutes, and to beat himself up over something Nick thinks is just about the sweetest thing anyone in their family has done for him. He's not sure why he does it, but it's the first thing he can think of to get Joe to stop, so he puts his lips on Joes' as he curls a hand around the back of Joe's neck and holds them there until Joe stops mouthing words into his lips and realizes that Nicks' kissing him.

The problem is, Nick realizes he's kissing Joe at about the same moment so they both pull away looking fairly shocked. "Um, what I was going to say was that I - I love my -" Nick starts rushing, trying to avoid the awkward conversation they're about to have on why he just kissed his own brother, but he forgets what he was going to say because the only words circling in his mind are 'Joe,' 'brother,' and 'kiss'. He can't say any of those without adding to the problem so he snaps his mouth shut and starts walking into the house like he'd completed his thought and was thoroughly satisfied with the point he'd made.

Joe stands there for a second before following Nick up the steps and into the house, wondering what he's supposed to say to that, exactly. Finally when they make their way upstairs and Nick turns into his room, Joe follows him and watches Nick set the case on his bed, busying himself with getting his guitar nestled inside while Joe backs the door closed and lifts his backpack higher on his shoulders like a shield. "Nick... I can't just decide what that meant. I need a little help here." He thinks Nick's going to ignore him as he strums a note on a string before closing the case up and locking it shut. But he takes it off the bed and walks purposefully, with his eyes to the ground, over beside Joe and sets the guitar case up, and breathes a shuddery breath in and out.

"I don't... want to say it okay? But you put it together, all right? You're really special. To me. And I just - kissed you. What do you think it means Joe?" Nick seems pained by the whole situation, but he's being a whole lot braver about the situation than Joe thinks he would be if he were Nick. He's glad though, so glad because that means that Joe has proved to him that he's trustworthy, and not only that, but that he loves him, because Nick isn't crying or shoving him away or claiming that Joe's going to hate him, which is good because otherwise he thinks Nick would be really confused when he pulls Nick into him and kisses him hard. He wouldn't want Nick to waste time being confused when he could enjoy it like Joe is as he tests it and opens his mouth over Nicks' a little, giving a soft press of tongue to the seam of Nicks' lips.

They start making out and instinct kicks in. Joe turns to lock the door just as Nick starts pulling him backwards to the bed. Nick lays back against the covers and Joe hesitates for just a moment before he straddles his baby brother and starts sucking at his neck. Nick may have grown over the summer and almost settled completely into his voice, but the breaths he's huffing out are short and high. Joe grazes his teeth over Nicks' skin gently, and where he has his hand part way up Nick's shirt, palm on his belly, he can feel the muscles there get tighter.

He lifts his head for a moment, pressing a comforting kiss to Nicks' red lips before noticing how flushed Nick looks. "Oh..." Joe sighs out, licking his lips after. He has to clear his throat to speak any further. The way Nick looks has Joe's body tightening everywhere, and his dick is filling up slowly, getting heavier and Joe would like nothing more than to fix it but he kisses and licks his way into Nicks' mouth again as he mumbles soft and sweet, "I love you"s so that Nick can just barely hear it. Joe is getting Nicks' blood boiling hotter and stomach constricting, chest swelling more with every utterance and Nick mewls under the attention, unable to turn it into much else as his erection tests its boundaries against his gym shorts. It's not painfully tight, and feels good, but it doesn't feel great until he arches his hips into Joe's and feels the hardness there press against his own.

"Joe," he breathes out, finally able to because Joe had to pull back when he realized what Nick was doing. "I love you. Please," is all he says and Joe's suddenly terrified, but so happy he feels like he's going to burst. He doesn't understand when he started wanting this, when he started needing Nick, when Nick became all of this to him. He feels stupid with it because he thinks they're both just kids, and they're going to get into so much trouble, but the way Nick is looking up at him, he can't see how anything could bring them down from this high. He'll find away. They'll find a way, so he nods and he climbs off of Nick and starts taking his clothes off. Nick watches for a moment, just as stupid with it as Joe before he realizes he should be doing the same and slides out of his shorts and shirt, both of their boxers lying on the floor next to each other.

When Joe is back on him, he thrusts his hips down immediately, making Nick arch into him reflexively, making a strangled noise at just how good it feels. They've never done anything like this before and it feels incredible, mind-blowing. Somewhere they're sure it's just because of the way it's happening so fast, so ready for it, so in this moment, so deep in love, that it won't always be this good, this intense, but they don't care. They need each other, now, always they both think, and so they find a pace that works for them and when it gets built up to a certain point, Joe gets his hand between them, combines their pre-cum and spreads it down over their dicks and starts jacking them off together, neither of them talking as their breaths come out hard and fast and their stomachs coil within them, flushing deeper, pushing kisses against each others' faces when they can think about it long enough.

Nick goes off first, younger and less touched, and Joe can't believe it, isn't ready when he lets go a few pulls later. They breathe against each other for a moment before Joe rolls over, but not before he kisses Nick full on the lips and whispers, "I love you. I love you." He wants Nick to know. He wants him to know that they're changing for the better. Nick finds enough breath to laugh at his insistence, his urgency, and rolls onto his side, sweaty and skin sliding easily over Joes' as he drapes his arm over his brothers' waist.

Smiling wide, Nick lays his head on Joes' chest and assures him, "I love you too." And they'll be just fine as long as Joe can protect Nick by making him feel appreciated and loved, as long as Nick can make sure Joe knows that he'll always be there for him no matter what, no matter the situation. Because they love each other.


End file.
